I have previously written about the benefits of vision boarding and how I have attracted various things by simply choosing images that represent what I want and putting them somewhere I can see them often. You can make a vision board for anything, as long as it feels good when you look at it. I think the biggest thing that I manifested while using a vision board was two job offers.
Background
I recently read about some students who are suing their law school because they have not been able to find employment since they graduated in 2011. There have been a slew of these lawsuits lately and they remind me of when I graduated from law school in 2011 into an abysmal post-market crash economy in Michigan. Like the disgruntled plaintiffs in these law school lawsuits, I did not go to a top-teir school such as Yale, Harvard or University of Michigan. Knowing this, I positively focused on getting a legal job anywhere. After 200 applications, 2 interviews and 1 job offer, I landed a 1-year judicial clerkship in New Jersey and began networking in hopes of gaining permanent employment.
Halfway through my clerkship year, I had great rapport with the local Director of a County government office. I also made connections with several partners in a local mid-sized law firm. Because I couldn’t choose which job I wanted the most, when the time came to apply for jobs, I set an intention that I was going to get an offer from both.
The Vision Board
I created a vision board with 1) a large picture of the google maps street view of the front of the government building and 2) a picture of the law firm’s logo that I saved from its website. I saved this vision board to my laptop’s background. I also sent the image to my phone so I would have it with me throughout my day. I had a few other things on the vision board, but those two images were the main focus.
After two rounds of interviews with both employers, I received an offer from the government office and was given a few days to respond. Although I knew the government job would be a great fit for me, I knew that the law firm was a better fit. I called the law firm and told them I had received an offer from someone else and they immediately extended me an offer, which I accepted. Now, nearly four years later, I am still working for that law firm and I couldn’t be happier.
Conclusion
When I look back on how easy everything came together, I think about how the vision board helped me focus on how it would feel when I got both job offers. This felt a lot better than worrying about what may not happen. A vision board isn’t some magic trick that makes things you want appear out of thin air. However, a vision board is a tool that can be instrumental creating certainty within you that your goals are within your reach.
Do I think the law students who are suing their schools for not finding employment would have experienced a better outcome if they had made vision boards? Absolutely not. It is certainly not that simple. However, if you want something that seems impossible, wouldn’t it feel better to visualize getting what you want instead of blaming someone or something outside of your control for not getting it? Wouldn’t it feel better to positively focus on your goals than to negatively focus on the obstacles? Using a vision board can make insurmountable goals seem within reach. And that’s why I think it is such a powerful tool.
